


What about the future?

by PrinzessDina



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: 3 Skelebros, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clumsy Gaster, F/M, Genderfluid OC, M/M, Reincarnation fic, Somewhat Incest(?), but underage because OCs body is young, not underage because OC is over 22, reincarnated into Undertale, transgender OC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:02:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinzessDina/pseuds/PrinzessDina
Summary: Died young? 凸(°ㅂ°#)Woke up as a skeleton? (」゜ロ゜)」Currently in a popular Video Game? 〣( ºΔº )〣Cyber crush who is now an elder brother?! (Ｔ▽Ｔ)・・・A villain who is not a villain but is actually a best friend...? ┐('～`;)┌Anti-Monster campaigns and a skele-ton of human hate groups? (╮°-°)╮┳━━┳ ( ╯°□°)╯ ┻━━┻......What happened to the supposed afterlife? ლ(ಠ_ಠლ)--------What if Bones didn't die?Let's look at another possible timeline.
Relationships: Sans (Undertale) & Papyrus (Undertale) & Original Character, Sans (Undertale)/Original Character(s), Sans (Undertale)/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 127





	1. Don't drink and drive kids ^-^;

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Future of Yours](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7409542) by [UnknownRegion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownRegion/pseuds/UnknownRegion). 



> So this is my own spin on UnknownRegions "Future of Yours"
> 
> Different character, different timeline.

The sound of machines rumbling and the clacking of keyboard keys was what woke him up. Although it sounded off. Dull and warped, like his head was underwater. Opening his eyes was stressful. It happened far too slowly for his liking and took a lot of energy out of him. But he still could not see. At least not clearly. Everything was a blur of blue and grey. He could make out some vague shapes amidst the sea of blue but that was about it.

His body felt weightless and numb, his mind was no better. He could somewhat remember walking back from work, the sudden sensation of something smashing into his side and then everything after was blank. A slight tingle of fear crept up his spine as he struggled to move his body.

He had no idea what happened. Was he kidnapped? Did someone injure him? Did he fall unconscious and now he has some kind of sleep paralysis? His thoughts were a jumbled, anxious mess.

The fear combined with the underwater-ish vision set off a panic attack. Where even was he RIGHT NOW?! Underwater?! Everything was a blurry blue and... were those bubbles coming from his mouth?! Oh stars, he was DROWNING! The sudden realization made him gasp for air, only to swallow a mouthful of water, confirming his fears.

His whimper got cut off by the water and drifted uselessly upwards, taken by the bubbles. He continued to struggle, unwilling to just up and drown without a fight.

His body suddenly jerked in response to his determination and he grinned, although it looked more like he bit into a lemon since he was still drowning. His newfound movement a bittersweet victory. But he was not one to give up lightly!

He managed to make one powerful kick with his leg. It took too much out of him, though and still only brought him only a tiny bit closer to what he figured was upwards. He was too scared to look up, in case the surface was too far, making it impossible to escape his watery death.

So now he drifted in the water, too exhausted to move and slowly drowning. He felt the water filling his nostrils and mouth, unable to hold his breath any longer. Any moment now his body would react to the lack of air. He prepared for the inevitable cramping up of is body and waited.

And waited.

And... waited?

He... wasn’t drowning? What?  
Now that he thought about it, he didn’t feel the water in his lungs. He didn’t feel his lungs at all. Not even the urge to take a breath of air!  
Was he already dead?

No, no. That couldn’t be. If he was dead he wouldn’t be able to feel exhaustion or this pounding migraine bouncing around his head.

But he got significantly calmer with that thought, even if it was confusing. Way too slowly he turned his head to the sudden loud beeping next to him. Something red flashed just outside of his reach and he felt the water surrounding him move, making him sway back and forth lazily.

Wha-? The water was... draining? But... if it was draining, what was it being drained from?  
His question got answered as the surface level reached his face. Air! Finally! It was a good feeling, even if it didn’t seem he needed air to begin with. He was still confused but now he could see more clearly.

He was in some sort of tube. Like a test tube. A tap alerted him and he turned to it.  
A dead persons skull stared right at him, cracks running to and from its sockets.  
His voice caught in his throat and he panicked, swimming to the other side of the test tube that was still draining slowly. He clung to a handle that was jutting out and clenched his eyes shut.

He was out of a watery grave and thrusted straight into a horror movie.  
He was sure some crazy dude kidnapped him to test on him and he either had a horrible sense of room décor or he wore a skeleton mask. He didn’t want to take a second look to answer his question, he just hoped he would be able to fight this guy to escape.

His arms were starting to hurt from holding onto the handle too long. He was still weak, propably filled to the brim with all sorts of drugs. Maybe he was even hallucinating the skeleton. He fell unconscious after his hands slipped off the handle and he hit the ground. That drain got very fast to the end there, huh?

A memory flashed unexpectedly in the front of his mind. A memory of him tiredly walking back home. He had been so distracted, thinking of going to bed early that he didn’t hear the squeals of tires as a car came speeding around the corner and towards him as he was crossing the street.

He numbly figured that he had died. The impact of a fast moving vehicle is always enormous and the shortcut he took to go home had always been deserted. The driver propably sped off and left his mangled body to bleed out on the street.

With an annoyed groan he mentally cursed himself for not paying attention. If only he had the power to look into the future. It would’ve at least saved him from his tragic demise.

He gasped loudly as he suddenly returned to the land of the conscious only to get a face full of the guys creepy mask. A shriek escaped him and he felt himself fall as he once again dropped onto his head and fell unconscious.


	2. Isekai #∞

What was the saying again? That life was an unfair game? Along those lines anyway. But yes, the fates are definitely messing with him. He was literally in a fucking video game. Not the afterlife but a video game.  
Undertale, to be more specific. But who the hell cares about which game. He was in a fucking video game!

Who the hell wakes up inside a video game?! He was NOT an isekai protagonist, thank you very much!

The dude who he thought had been wearing a dead persons skull? A real skeleton monster called W. D. Gaster.

He was still reeling from the shock. The creep was actually Dr. Gaster. Other than the unbelievable fact of him having been reincarnated into a monster in a VIDEO GAME (ok, last time. he really needed to let that go), he had just been named. He almost murdered the royal scientist in cold blood. Rather than just accepting his predicament, he froze up. The good thing was that at least he did not accidentally replace Papyrus or Sans... if they were even related to Gaster anyway.

The scientist was currently flapping his bony arms everywhere as the monster tried and failed to get him to respond. He wasn’t willing. More so after realizing the gender he had been given by his... father? Creator? He wasn’t sure but judging from where he woke up, he could only assume that he was made by the doc.

Was he the definition of a test tube baby? He didn’t know and he didn’t care to find out. He just didn’t want to accept the fact that he had died and was shoved into a VIDEO GAME. He had worked so hard to get a decent job and after finally getting some stability in his life, he died. All because some asshole who had no decency to be careful behind the steering wheel.

If he were back in his own world and residing in the afterlife, he would’ve crawled back into the land of the living, just so he could haunt and torment that bastard to death. He swore he was not being an asshole. If any other had died in such a tragic and careless manner, would they not want to plague the mother fucker as well, man?

He was pulled out of his murderous thoughts when he felt himself being lifted from the uncomfortable metal table he had been silently lying on. He turned to look at the skeleton who was wearing a turtleneck underneath a standard scientist coat. His face... skull(?) seemed to hold no emotion (or he just sucked at reading skeleton expressions). The royal scientist sighed audibly while he was cradling him tenderly, as if afraid that he would turn to dust at any moment.

That brought back the unpleasant memory of how he cracked his skull not a minute into his new life. How could such a genius be so... clumsy?! The damn skeleton monster had dropped him. Fucking dropped him from such a height, enough to crack his skull open!

To be fair, he had been screaming like a banshee. Twice. The second time was when he discovered he was a tiny skeleton himself. So he did feel a little sorry for the man but honestly, _who drops a baby_?! Even if it’s suddenly screaming. That’s just not a thing you do.

It was a miracle he hadn’t been dusted from that crack.

With that at the front of his mind, his fingers... phalanges tightened onto the older monsters coat, wary that he would fall to the ground a third time in a day.

The way back to Gasters home was pretty quiet, what with them travelling via Riverperson express. Oh, except when the Dr. tripped over his untied shoelaces a few times. It made him seriously fear for his life. Much to his immense relief, they both made it to Snowdin in one piece.

He looked at the modest sized wooden cottage that had entered his sights, the christmas lights already strung up just like in the game. It was sad that Toby did not go much into the backstories of all the characters pre-canon, so he was pretty much going in blind. Hell, there were a shit ton of fan theories floating around the Undertale community, but none of them he could confirm were real except maybe for “Gaster is the skelebros father” theory.

The front door suddenly slammed open as soon as Gaster had stepped close to it (almost hitting his skull, which would’ve been funny), revealing an angry looking... short and stout skeleton in their pyjamas. The appearance of Sans made it awkward to him.

He was not scared to admit that he has a major crush on Sans ever since he started playing Undertale. Who wouldn’t love the punny character who was constantly around to bring a relaxed atmosphere. He had drawn (ugly) NSFW fan art, wrote smutty fanfics and, of course, browsed through various forums, digging deeper into all the content the fandom offered. He had several favorites in both the AU categories and the character categories. Error!Sans, the Dreamtale brothers and the many variations of Swapfell were some of them. But hey, they were only fan creations and probably not even worth mentioning now. They weren’t real.

...Right, man?

Anyway, back to the topic. He hadn’t exactly forgotten about Sans. Oh hell no. He had actually been avoiding any mental thoughts regarding said skeleton... and the future resets. Now, though, he grudgingly admitted that his crush was still going strong for the skeleton, who was now his brother(?).

As he had previously stated: Awkward.

* you’re late.

Those words that were filled with disapproval brought him back to reality and he shifted in Gasters hold, wanting to get a closer look at smol Sans. His curiosity and inner fanboy was getting the better of him. The movement was probably caught by him since Sans turned to look at him.

They both entered an impromptu staring contest and he idly wondered if this would last for eternity since neither of them really needed to blink, having no eyes or eyelids to begin with.

It was only after Gaster cleared his nonexistent throat that Sans broke the eye... socket staring contest with him.

* dings?

He was moved so that the scientist was able to properly hold him with one arm. Gaster used his free hand to sign a reply to his son, which completely flew over his head. ASL or whatever sign language Gaster was making were alien to him.

Sans blew out a puff of air full of his exasperation and crossed his arms over his ribcage. Even with the short skeletons permanent grin it was easy to tell that he was unimpressed by whatever the doc had signed. Maybe, anyway. He wasn’t an expert at reading a skeletons expression.

It was another few moments of the elder skeleton signing non-stop did he finally grew bored and looked away from the pair. He should probably think of a new name whilst they were busy. He could use his old one, but –

He squeaked in fright when he was unexpectedly covered in a blue-ish glow and gently floated downwards into a pair of smaller, yet equally bony pair of arms.

Phalanges gently brushed across the back of his skull and his eye sockets fluttered at the soothing motion. It felt so good to be caressed by your crush... NO! He should not be enjoying such a thing! In fact, he should be stopping this.

As if reading his mind, the phalanges halted their movements. It caused him to subconsciously let out a small whine, which made the phalanges continue their heavenly touch once again. He sighed in utter bliss and immediately wanted to facepalm at how gross he was acting.

Sans let out a hum as he tightened his hold on him. With his eye sockets drooping with exhaustion, he entered the dreamlands. He found this to be much more comforting and safe than within Gasters gentle yet far too clumsy hold.

* * *

**Extra: Sans’ POV**

Sans felt that his grumpy mood was wholly justified as he slumped into his seat on the lumpy couch. Dings was late. Again.

It was frustrating at times with a workaholic for a dad. Sure, he understood that Dings had many important projects he needed to complete for the King and for the good all of monsterkind but the older skeleton had promised that he would be home before dinner time at weekends.

Sans wasn’t a demanding kid. If anything, he was far from it. He had always been a very independent child who prefers taking care of his little brother, Papyrus, rather than play with other ten-year-olds who were far too childish for his liking. The thought of Papyrus caused Sans’ mood to brighten. If it was something concerning Dings he was grateful for, it was that the man had brought Papyrus home with him.

Sans had only demanded of one thing from Dings and that was to come home early to have dinner with his two children every weekend. It was all for Papyrus if he was honest, but even Sans himself felt content when he saw his little family laughing together and generally just enjoying their time spent together.

Speaking of Dings, that must be him.

He hopped off the couch and impatiently took a shortcut so that he could be the one to slam open the door - hopefully into Dings’ unsuspecting skull.

* you’re late. 

He stated with as much displeasure as he could muster with his short stature and high-pitched voice whilst crossing his arms over his ribcage.

That was when his eye lights caught the bundle in his fathers arms. The little thing, a babybones that looked very much like a chubbier, yet smaller version of Papyrus and himself combined, was staring directly at him.

Sans was shocked into silence as he gawked at the babybones. If his jawbones weren’t fused together, he could guarantee that his mandible would have been touching the ground by now. Only when his dad cleared his throat did Sans look away.

* dings?

His dad transferred the bundle (rather awkwardly and dangerously, which made Sans cringe) so that he was holding them in one arm. He then sheepishly signed (a sign, heh, that he was far too nervous to talk) that he had accidentally made them a few months back and just didn’t have the soul to dispose of them.

* gee, dings. throw me a bone next time you decide to bring home another kid.

As he joked, he still made sure that his tone was dead serious to show his displeasure at how irresponsible Dings had been.

They had no extra room nor a crib for the little one since Papyrus’ old one had been given away in favor of a new bed. If Sans had been informed beforehand, he would’ve had months of preparation time to welcome his newest sibling into their family.

He just knew that his expression has changed into one of petulant annoyance when Dings tried to explain that he was busy and all that. Etc, etc. He sometimes wondered if he was the adult in their relationship at times like this.

It was at this moment of time when his newest sibling turned to look at another thing that might have caught their attention did Sans notice the crack on the back of the babybones’ skull.

The eye lights within his eye sockets disappeared completely and he immediately transported his sibling, who had squeaked in surprise (at least they didn't cry), into his arms. He then lightly touched the back of the small skeleton's skull, cautious to not accidentally hurt the little one even more in the process.

From the corner of his eye sockets, he saw Dings fidgeting nervously with beads of sweat slowly rolling down his skull. It looked like he had found the culprit. He whipped his skull towards Dings and gave his best ‘explain-now-or-you-will-be-in-so-much-trouble-young-man’ glare.

A childish whine left his little sibling (he should really get their name and gender from Dings soon) when his phalanges stopped their exploration and he immediately resumed caressing the tiny and fragile skull, causing the little one to nuzzle against his digits and soon, fall asleep. He could already tell that he would be spoiling this little one as much as he spoiled Papyrus. Heck, even Papyrus would want to spoil their newest sibling. His energetic little brother had always wanted to be a big bro.

As much as he would like to coo at this tiny creature for their cuteness, he turned back to Dings, who had been slowly sneaking away. With a flick of his carpals, he floated Dings and dropped the scientist onto their couch, all the whilst rocking the babybones with expertise. He kicked the door close and stood in front of his dad, looking very much unimpressed.

Dings was the first to look away guiltily as he silently glared the older skeleton into explaining why there was a massive crack on the back of their newest family members skull. 

After the Royal Scientist had finished with his explanation, Sans had to resist the urge to pinch his nasal bone as he palmed his face in exasperation, expertly holding the babybones with one arm.

When he finally looked at Dings, a lecture of workfare safety and proper childcare had already escaped through his teeth. He heard a distressed noise coming from the older skeleton, but he ignored it in favor of subtly insulting the mans intellect throughout the night.


	3. The dreaded gender reveal, aka: Hell

When he woke up this time, he was being cuddled by Sans. If this body of his had been older, he would’ve exploded into a blushy mess and quickly try to get as far away from the situation as possible, man. But since his new skeletal body was maybe just a day old, he could only lay there and stare at the bigger skeleton, suffering in silence but somewhat entranced by how peaceful and young Sans looked in his sleep. And quite fascinated at seeing a skeleton fucking snore.

He could get used to waking up like this. It was nice and quiet, very comfortable.

Just seconds after he finished that thought, the world decided that his time of peace was up. The bedroom door flung open with a bang, shattering the gentle atmosphere he was in just moments ago and jolting his new big brother awake.

The hoodie lover released him, much to his displeasure, in favor of catching a flying tiny skeleton wearing a set of red pyjamas that had cute little cartoon bones sewed on it.

“BROTHER! IT IS TIME FOR THE MOST IM... IMPO... IMPOTENT MEAL OF THE DAY! BREAKFAST!!”

His irritation was easily replaced by amusement. _Impotent._ Oh my stars, man.

* important, bro.

Sans hurriedly corrected him, a drop of sweat rolling down his skull. Yep, he just saw a skeleton sweat. Papyrus was then attacked by tickles and the five(?) year old giggled gleefully, trying and utterly failing to protect his sides from the grinning older brother.

The two were really cute and happy together, making him wonder why he was even here.

From what he knew, there had only been two skeletons when he played the game. So was he an extra? An anomaly? A glitch? Some random background character? A monster who died before Frisk came to the Underground? Someone who was erased from existence because he fell into the core alongside with Gaster? A failed experiment that was meant to be disposed of in the future?

So many questions, yet no one to tell him the answers.

He was thankfully pulled out of his pessimistic thoughts when he was gently picked up by the eldest of the three brothers. He noticed that Papyrus was beyond curious about who he was but Sans, even as a child, was someone great at distractions.

A few puns later and the energetic skeleton rushed out of the bedroom with a cry. “MY MORNING IS RUINED!!!”

The two (one actually, since he was still being carried by Sans) then made their way downstairs and into the kitchen, where Gaster was already seated, a newspaper shielding him from the world while Papyrus was happily munching away at a piece of toast next to him.

* morns.

Sans greeted his father as he sat down opposite to Papyrus and shifted the bundle in his arms so he could comfortably eat his breakfast.

The doc waved lazily in response and continued to read today’s paper. It made him curious. Did the Underground even have a paper company to subscribe to? Well, the doc was reading one, so the answer should be obvious. But still, he wished his body was stronger and bigger so he could explore the whole place. The game was pretty limited when compared to real life and he was always excited about exploring.

The table was silent, but not uncomfortably so, with only the crunches of Papyrus’ toast and Gasters newspaper rustling. After Sans finished his meal, he got up and grabbed an empty baby bottle.

The ten year old did not fill it with milk but placed it on the table in front of his oblivious father. He was getting quite hungry. When would he get his breakfast?

* hey, dings. have you eaten a matter son before?

Gaster peeked out from the top of his paper with the skeleton equivalent of a raised brow. He couldn’t blame him. He fell for it too once or twice when he was still human.

“What’s a matter son?”

It took him a few seconds to register that the soft and raspy voice had come from Gaster. It startled him, to be honest. The scientist was able to communicate via speech?! He thought the guy was mute, man! Now he felt bad. He automatically judged him, based on Gaster not talking the entire first day here. Mentally apologizing for his rude behavior he almost missed Sans’ reply.

* the bottle needs to be filled up. that’s the matter.

The two skeletons sitting at the table stared with various degrees of confusion before suddenly it seemed to click for them. Sans continued before they could react, however.

* why so flabber _gaster_ ed?

Papyrus immediately hopped out of his chair and began to screech out in apparent agony whilst the adult skeleton could be seen facepalming.

He couldn’t help it, he burst out in a series of snickers when the last pun finally registered. Oh stars, he was going to have so much fun here. He should study up on puns too. He knew a few but he could never hold up to the pun-god that is this skeleton.

* would you look at that. at least someone in this family found that humerus.

“Sans, no.”

* sans, yes.

“BROTHER, NO!!!”

* oh gee. i _no_ when i’m outnumbered.

“NYEH!! DAD MAKE HIM STOP!”

“I’m afraid that that’s an impossible task even for me, Papyrus. On the other hand, let me introduce you to your new little sister.”

Gaster placed his newspaper down and gestured towards said new little “sister”, who was busy glaring at the scientist due to hunger... and also because he was once again in a body that didn’t define him. At least his new name was adequate... for a girl.

“LITTLE SISTER...?”

“Papyrus, Sans, meet your new little sister – “

EW, MAN, NOOO!

“Century Gothic.”

He felt sick.

\-------------------

“Look here, kids.”

His fingers clenched into a tight fist as he stared moodily into the (ancient as fuck) camera Gaster was holding. The three brothers (he refused to see himself as a girl) were on the couch, with Sans and Papyrus sitting side by side. He was currently seated in Papyrus’ lap, who was smiling widely with literal stars in his eye sockets.

“Say ‘Century!’”

He so wanted to strangle that guy and then himself. The scientist was dead to him.

“CENTURY!” * century!

STOP. SAYING. THAT. NAME. MAN!


	4. No wonder their fur is so soft. They're fluffed with bullshit!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warning(s): Gossips, mentions of suicide, and other things that may cause a trigger... I think.

Embracing the fact that he had been reincarnated – if this could even be called that – into the world of Undertale had been overwhelmingly difficult. Especially with being the gender once again he so desperately fled from as a human. It was a gruelling process of nightly crying and sudden shouting matches with himself before he could come to accept that yes indeed, he was in a video game and he should really get over it. In his self-appointed mission of trying to find his way through the layers of doubt, he had developed a case of existential crisis over the past few weeks along the way (Or was it months? Was time even constant here? When will the resets start? Was this even real? Was HE even real??). Sometimes he even thought he heard a voice in his head, mocking him and saying that he had no real purpose here. That he was just a background-character who could be eliminated on a whim with the swipe of a finger because _he was useless_.

The details aren’t something he wished to bring up at the moment, as it was still too fresh. So for the bright side of things, he had also found an anchor. His anchor to this reality had been right in front of him all along – he was just blinded by denial.

It was his new family. If it weren’t for them, he would’ve most likely starved himself and if he had been older in body, offed himself.

His father, Gaster, had been coming back home earlier more often to check on him.  
His middle brother, Papyrus, would remain quiet and cuddle with him when he felt like the whole world was against him, giving him silent encouragements by just being there.  
His eldest brother and crush, Sans, would do some hella cool skeleton humming to calm his nerves (It sounded like someone making music with a flute). He was patient enough to deal with him even though any other ten-year-old would’ve quickly lost interest and thrown a huge tantrum.

The three elder skeletons had shown him that he was wanted. That he was real and valued. Something his human family never did.  
For that, he swore to himself that he would protect them. He would push all his doubts concerning himself away in favor of keeping them safe.  
He owed them that much of his gratitude.

But enough of angsting around. It had been months and although he was still unable to talk, he had decided to stick to his name he chose back on the surface and call himself Jack within the prison he called his mind. The moment he was able to, however, he would be demanding that everyone call him by his chosen name. He was sure, if he was rejected, he would go insane.

Within the short span of his time here, he had come to genuinely love his new family. Yes, this included the clumsy doctor. The doc wasn’t an evil mad scientist like what many fans had thought. In fact, he was very kind and loving – a Dadster. He could never be called the best father but he was trying his hardest, which, to Jack, was admirable. The only problem he had with the kind doctor was his daily almost accidental kills.

The scientist was also more often than not absent. If Jack had been unfamiliar with Undertale, he would’ve just ticked Gaster off as a workaholic who barely cared about his family. But because he knew exactly what was going on, he understood that the grown skeleton was a very busy monster with too many responsibilities laid on his shoulders.

It was entirely unintentional on Gasters part when he neglected not only his children but also his own health. If not for Sans, who constantly mothered his father, the man would’ve probably fallen down by now due to how _bone_ -tired he was (hehe, he was getting better with the puns). Hell, the guy lived off of coffee most of the time when Sans wasn’t on his case. Jack was a frequent witness to Sans’ daily calls to the grown skeleton during lunch breaks to check if he had eaten or not.

Other monsters did not understand their family dynamics at all, though.  
Just this morning, when Sans had finally brought him along with Papyrus to buy groceries, Jack had heard all the whispers spreading false rumors surrounding his family. Especially from the rabbit monsters. They were the main gossipers. But also the ones who would always come up to strike a “friendly” conversation just to get more juicy details to twist and spread.

Papyrus had seemed oblivious to it all, chattering a mile a minute about everything under the artificial sun (which, by the way, was created by Gaster). Sans on the other hand kept his words to a minimum, all the while keeping a tight grip on Paps’ hand. The eldest brother had been wary of others coming up to them for a ‘friendly’ chat but did not hinder Papy from conversing cheerfully with the townspeople... townsmonsters. Jack respected that part of Sans – to not want his justified paranoia to restrict Papyrus from being the social butterfly that he was. It was not as if this was Underfell anyway. These monsters were awfully nosy, yeah, but at least they didn’t murder each other for power.

But on the topic of rumors, they were comprised of the three skelebros being abused, neglected, forced into labor and all these other stupid things that were absolutely ridiculous. It was no surprise all of his onesies had hoods to cover the crack on the back of his skull. Jack had never in all of his life wanted to shove a fork into someone (the fucking shopkeep hare) so damn badly before.

After they had returned home, Sans let Papyrus hold him while he put away the groceries. After that he prepared a quick snack bag as well as a baby bag. The first time Jack had witnessed Sans doing all of the domestic chores and cooking with Papyrus’ help he almost had a seizure. Who knew that the future lazybones was a fucking housewife during his childhood?

It only escalated Jacks crush to higher levels, much to his own disgust. And here he thought that being his younger brother would eliminate those feelings.

As soon as Sans was ready, the stout skeleton made sure that both of his younger siblings were warm enough (even if they had no skin...) before they all headed out. He was so glad that he didn’t have to wear pink girly stuff. The soft lavender jacket paired with the black scarf and hat was a really nice color combination.  
He had been transferred into Sans’ arms as Papyrus skipped ahead, shouting his greetings to the other monster children there. Jack didn’t even know that there was a playground in Snowdin.

It would’ve been so cute to see this in the game.

The other children waved happily at the excited young skeleton as they all started playing tag. Paps was having a blast and that was enough to make both Sans and Jack happy.

After a good second look at the children however, Jacks mood dimmed a little. They looked like they genuinely wanted to have fun with Papyrus but were being held back by something... or someone.

One glance at the parents sitting on the benches near the children told Bones that they were the cause behind why Papyrus had not a single friend – merely playmates. The parents had probably tolerated the young skeletons presence because he provided the children an opportunity to play games that required more monsters.

It sickened him to his core. He was lucky that Gaster wasn’t one for judging someone without getting to truly know them first. Jack promised himself he would give the doc a #1 Dad mug in the future, regardless of how the other townsmonsters viewed him.

They all didn’t know how important the scientist was since he preferred to keep his identity as the royal scientist a secret as to not be bombarded or used. How fucking ignorant of them. The skeleton sacrificed so much of his time and health for them to live such carefree lives in the Underground and this was how they were repaying him. By spreading twisted rumors that even Gaster himself was unaware of.

Now with Jack here there were bound to be even more rumors about how the doc was fucking around or something like that.

As Sans sat down on an empty bench near the playground with the bags he carried, Jack was shifted to one arm so he was able to rummage the baby bag for a bottle.

Almost immediately Jack felt hungry and made grabby hands towards the bottle. Sue him for acting like a baby, but his body seriously needed a shit ton of calcium and magic, man. He was almost constantly hungry thanks to that. If skeletons could grow fat, he would be the definition of an obese baby.  
His eldest brother chuckled at his behavior but obeyed regardless and helped Jack by holding the bottle for him.

The liquid inside of the baby bottle was purple by the way. The color had put him off and he refused to drink it at first but after hours of denying to be fed, he couldn’t stand the nagging hunger any longer and just allowed the two worried skeletons to pry open his jaw and shove the sucker into his mouth. The taste was not really bad but it also wasn’t something he would call delicious. It was okay enough to drink it. Kind of tasted like grape flavored water. Not grape juice. Grape _flavored_ water.

Jack had been curious at first why Sans didn’t just make milk for him – since he already cooks for the whole family anyway – and constantly asked for Gaster to prepare the bottle. But after witnessing the doc pouring his own magic into the bottle he understood. Well, not everything obviously, because why would anybody bother to explain what the fuck they were doing to a baby?

He assumed, since skeleton monsters had no organs, they would need 100 % magical food during their infant years. When they get older they would be able to eat monster food – which was made from magical ingredients but were not completely magic – by creating a temporary stomach... maybe.  
His theory was very frail but he wouldn’t be able to research the topic anytime soon. He would get back to understanding the reasoning behind having to drink his fathers magic when he got older.

But for now... Ah, sitting on the lap of the person he liked whilst being hand fed? Heaven.

“...es! I’ve heard... from Rita. The... Gaster right... another child! ... not taking care... irresponsible.”

“I know right? ... some reason... is being taken....eldest.”

“My... only 10... what I’ve heard... they’re in... class, you know? I hope... not a bad influence on my... skips school...”

“Really? It’s... skipping school. He’s taking care... Why... 10 year old taking care... neglect and not to mention abuse! ... even taking his brother... is wrong.”

“Parents these... not have children if... not take care...”

“...not seen a woman before. ...born out of the wedlock?”

And there went his blissful moment of happiness. Thank you, stupid gossiping lepos, for ruining his peaceful _date_ he had going on with Sans.  
Jack could feel him shaking, whether from humiliation or rage he didn’t know but what he did know was that he heard what those ladies were speaking as much as he did – or more.  
There was this awesome little trick that he had yet to master but to put it simply, by allowing his bones to be hollowed out, he could strengthen his ability to hear. It sounds weird, to be honest, but he figured questioning all things magic was a waste of time.

Anyways, he should stop getting distracted.

How dare these moronic leporidae just spread those kinds of rumors around? Near children, no less. Not to mention how inaccurate they were. Except for the Sans taking care of Papyrus and Jack part. And the part of Sans being excused from school. Not skipping, but excused!  
At least the teacher wasn’t worried at all about Sans’ grades dropping – they never did when Sans was solely focused on taking care of a younger Papyrus anyway.

When the two ladies finally noticed that Sans, the being who they had only a moment ago been badmouthing, was sitting just two benches away from them, they lowered their voice immediately and even had the audacity to smile at the two skelebros! The nerve!

He stopped suckling on the baby bottle for a moment and glared angrily at the two hares. They seemed to look away immediately, which was satisfying. Maybe he was a terrifying baby to look at? Hell yeah, man!

After he finished his ‘milk’ (he didn’t want to call it Gasters juice because that sounded very, very wrong) Sans burped him and smiled at him. It made his metaphorical heart speed up and he grinned at the bigger skeleton. His mood had lightened at the sight of how caring Sans was being.

Papyrus came soon after, bouncing back to them and loudly proclaiming that he was hungry. He even made a heroic pose as he was doing it. So adorable. Best middle sibling right here.

As Sans was busy with searching his bag for a bottle of hand sanitizer and wet wipes to clean Paps’ phalanges, Jack memorized the two rabbit monsters faces and added them to his quickly growing list of ‘Monsters that need to learn why they should not fuck with the skele family’.

Internally insert an adult human version of him chuckling in a deep voice like an anime villain while his glasses light up, shadowing his face (also like in anime).


	5. Marshmallow Cheeks

„HOME AT LAST, BROTHER AND SISTER.”

Papyrus’ voice was heard as soon as the door slammed open. The energetic, smol skeleton rushed inside with Gaster trailing behind at a more sedated pace. Paps’ beaming smile was contagious as Sans and Jack grinned back from their seats on the couch and lap respectively. Jacks smile, however, was a bit muted due to the misgendering that he couldn’t prevent (yet).

* welcome back, bro, dings. how was school and work?

“IT WAS GREAT, BROTHER. I DREW OUR FAMILIES POR-... PORTET? DAD?”

“Portrait. It’s certainly well drawn for someone your age. And work went well, Sans. I did manage to come back home early.”

“OF COURSE! IT IS DREW-... DRAWN BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AFTER ALL!”

* heh. of course, bro. your drawings are always the coolest. thanks for picking paps up on your way back home, dings. was a little preoccupied with century here not wanting to drink –

Jack was quick to turn away and babble nonsense as he tried to wiggle out of the stout skeletons lap. This immediately caused Sans to cut off his own words in favor of groaning miserably as he secured his hold on his youngest and most troublesome sibling.

The reason why Jack was being difficult and trying to escape when he would usually cling onto his crush like a damn leech was because he did not want to drink his current ‘milk’.  
He didn’t mind drinking the docs liquid magic, but he drew the line when presented with Sans’. The luminescent, blue liquid reminded him of the many fanarts he saw other people draw of Sans’ cum, to put it bluntly. So, no thanks. He would not be drinking his liquid magic out of a bottle, even if it would kill him. Maybe when he was older he could get it directly from- ok, nah-ah! Stop it right there, Jack.

Papyrus, just as suddenly as he popped in front of them, was now carried away by Gaster, the small skeleton deposited on the adults hip who shrugged off Sans’ unspoken words of gratitude.

* i don’t know why she’s being fussy about this, dings.

Sans sighed tiredly and he dropped the bottle in favor of running a hand over his skull. It made him look so much older than he actually was – although skeleton monsters were hard enough to distinguish between young and old to the untrained eye.

Jack felt a little guilty for making it so difficult for Sans, but he would not be drinking that. Just... no. In one of his more... curious parts of his mind, an adult voice wondered if it would taste anything like marshmallows or blueberries. The voice was quickly trampled and squashed down.

“Perhaps she’s unfamiliar with your magic in liquid form? Give her some time. She did literally starve herself dry the first time we introduced her to mine.” He tried to cringe as little as possible at the wrong pronouns that he was once again stuck with. It cut into him like knifes.

* ...gee. what a troublesome little thing you are, century. big brother’s pretty confused as to what to do now.

“For now we can continue to feed her mine with no problem.”

* no, dings. that’s the problem right there. you do know that you’re always tired _to the bone_ now because you don’t give yourself time for your magic to replenish itself, right?

Seriously? Jack tightened his phalanges on Sans’ hoodie. He felt ashamed of himself. He’d been acting quite selfish since Sans had introduced the new ‘milk’ to him a few hours ago. He HAD noticed that the doc looked more and more haggard and sluggish as weeks passed by, but he had shrugged it off, thinking that it was due to him being overworked.

Now that the thought about it, he was fed far more regularly than any normal human baby was. That obviously must not be healthy for the tall skeleton. It was no wonder that the mother hen of this family had put down his foot and tried to make Jack drink Sans’ liquefied magic rather than their fathers.

“How about a nice warm bath? Maybe Century will be hungry after that. And would you mind bringing Papyrus along? He has crayon stains all over his phalanges... and teeth.”

Sans did not need to think twice about that idea and immediately agreed. He probably needed some relaxation himself. The family drawing by Papyrus was taped to the fridge before the three brothers made their way to the mostly unused bathroom.

To be honest, Jack had thought that the bathroom was, for all purposes, a decoration. Their bones, from what he had discovered, were clean most of the time, as dirt and snow could just be dusted off of them.

The only time their bones made contact with water was before and after meal times, as well as brushing their teeth. It sounded very unhygienic, but monsters are vastly different to humans. You just can’t compare a monster skeleton to a human one, man. He had already learnt not to simply assume things based off of his previous life’s knowledge.

Papyrus quickly prepared the bath, as soon as they entered the bathroom. It was big enough to fit two adult humans, so three smol skeletons had more than enough room. Jack was fascinated by the giant tub. He never had a bathtub in his house in all his adult years and even the tub in his childhood home was not even half as big as this one.

He loved swimming but could never do it due to the obvious lack of a tub. And he was too scared to swim in a lake or the ocean, because he had a massive fear of deep water. He hated not being able to see what was around him at all times. So this big tub, he would love to take a bath alone in once he was older.

Speaking of taking a bath, Jack just noticed that this would be the first time he would see Sans bare boned. The idea and image excited him more than he would like to admit it. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, he was still a damn babybones.

Just as Papyrus stripped and entered the bath with a gleeful shout, Sans began to help Jack out of his purple onesie with cartoon bones sewed on it. He idly wondered if it was common to have bone themed things in a skeletons home.

The second he was bared, he felt this strong urge to cover himself, although there was literally nothing there to cover (how do you distinguish a female from a male skeleton?). He was handed over to Papyrus and he gripped the older in body skeletons clavicle tightly. He was more than a little afraid that he would be dropped, because, duh, bubble baths were pretty slippery. The water was pretty warm and he marvelled at the fact that he could still feel it but not in the same way he did when he had been human.

He guessed it was better that way. He’d always been one to heat up too quickly, since his human body had a heightened core temperature. Jack was glad he lived in Snowdin. The cold suited him.

When he heard clothes being dropped to the floor, he immediately turned to shamelessly ogle his eldest brother, who was making his way over bare boned. Oh stars. He was fucking fangirling over a ten year old. What in the fucking hell was wrong with him?! He was seriously turning into a pedo, man. An incestuous paedophile. He was worse than trash. What was the purpose of his life, other than being a disgusting chewed up gum on the soles of a beggars shoe?

As the two brothers made themselves comfortable, he was lifted back into Sans’ arms because Papyrus decided that he wanted to play with rubber duckies. He decided that it was time to stow away his bad thoughts for now and enjoy this time together with his two loving ‘elder’ brothers. He had decades of experience pushing his problems and feelings aside. A few more won’t hurt, right?

He decided he should join Paps in his game. It was pretty fun. Especially when Papyrus kept making cute high pitched voices for each rubber duckie he was holding. The names, the smol skeleton had chosen for each duckie, weren’t too bad as well.

A mischievous idea suddenly rushed to the front of his mind and he immediately set to act it out. He dropped the duckies he had been playing with in favor of flapping wildly around, splashing water everywhere and causing him to almost be dropped.

His risky plan worked wonderfully because Sans instantly turned him around so that he was able to wrap his phalanges around his eldest brothers clavicle and upper ribs while Sans was now able to properly support him better.

He got the stink eye for his effort but Jack played it cool by smiling and giggling innocently. Again, he had around 22 years of experience with acting. The moment Sans rolled those eye lights of his in apparent fondness, Jack took the chance to place his hands on Sans’ cheeks.

* century?

_Grab. Pull._

* s-schap shat-

_Push. Squish._

* schentury, lesh go.

“NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH! WHAT FUNNY FACES YOU MAKE, BIG BROTHER!”

His curiosity had finally been sated. Sans’ facial bones felt similar to the smooth texture of a porcelain doll but moldable like semi-hard clay. In other words: perfect to play with.

Best day ever, man!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a long one. Just like UnknownRegion, I can't stand writing childhood arc chapters. So the next chapter will be a summary of Jack's childhood.


	6. Time sure flies when you're having fun ┐(￣∀￣)┌

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the summary of Jack's childhood.  
> I've started to add in some major differences that divert from the original story and make Jack different from Bones.

**Title: A merry Gyftmas**   
**Age: 11 months old**

The sound of Gaster making a mess of the living room was pretty much the only telltale sign that there was another living being in the house apart from Sans and Jack. Papyrus was out, building snowmen at the front of their house. The six year old was allowed to play outdoors anytime he wanted with the promise that he would text Sans every half an hour so that their eldest brother wouldn’t worry.

* stop making a mess when i only just finished cleaning up yesterday.

Sans allowed his voice to rise from their usual drawl so that he could be heard from the kitchen as he flipped a perfectly made omurice onto a plate next to his frying pan (which was Sans’ personal item). The stout skeleton then proceeded to draw a cute cartoonish doodle of Gasters skull with a ketchup bottle.

“I’ll clean up afterwards.”

* cleaning up doesn’t mean putting your shit in less obvious places, dings! and come eat breakfast, yours is ready.

“Then do you know where I last placed my heat gun?”

* it’s underneath the couch pillows, which, by the way, you numbskull, is a really stupid place to leave a portable heat gun.

“Thanks.”

The doc thanked half-heartedly before disappearing back into his room, either not hearing or just not caring about the reprimand. It was probably the latter.

* your breakfast, dings!

Sans puffed out his cheekbones when the adult didn’t respond. Jack almost died of the cute energy Sans was emitting.

Said skeleton returned back to cooking breakfast, not wanting his inattentiveness to burn another batch of omurice. Everything was peaceful and Jack idly played with the fluff lining his brother’s hood, a little bored of not being able to walk on his own just yet.

Jack was ecstatic that he was allowed to stick this close to Sans, while watching him cook. He liked cooking and was always interested in learning new recipes. It was unfortunate that he was still unable to eat solid foods even though he was past the six-month mark. But he would make up for it by soaking in all the cooking-knowledge like a dry sponge.

The omurice smelt so good... Jack drooled and his non-existent stomach grumbled.  
He poked the side of Sans’ skull to gain the cooks attention.

* hungry, babybones?

“Yeh, mwan!”

* give me a moment.

Said moment later and Bones was holding a warm bottle of Sans juice, fresh from the source. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

As he sucked on his bottle he heard the front door opening, followed by the pitter patter of tiny feet rushing towards the kitchen. Papyrus appeared. The little skeleton bounced excitedly to the sink and then to his seat as Sans finished the last line of doodling a Papyrus skull on the omurice.

Impeccable timing as always, Papy.

* can you call dings down for me, paps?

“OKAY, BIG BROTHER. THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ON IT.”

* thanks, bro. you’re the best.

“NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!”

The bumbling ball of energy hopped out of his seat and rushed upstairs, his face flushed orange at the praise. Immediately afterwards there was a loud bang followed by a few muffled words that sounded like cussing.

Jack hid a giggle as Sans’ expression darkened.

“SANS? WHAT IS A ‘STAR FUCKEN DAMNIT’?”

Papyrus questioned instantly as he appeared with Gaster trailing after him. The latter looked like death itself has come to take his soul.

* ...a pun.

“WHAT?! DAD, HOW COULD YOU?!?”

Papyrus looked so betrayed as he tilted his skull upwards, his eyesockets widening as he stared at the doc.

The scientist himself was sweating bullets as Sans’ eyelights remained on their father. He was trying to come up with an excuse when the doorbell rang.

Jack swore he heard Gaster murmur a ‘nice timing’ as the adult excused himself and ran briskly walked to get the door under the pretence of not wanting their unexpected guest to think that the skeleton family wasn’t home.

Since the three brothers were the only ones left in the kitchen, Sans ushered Papyrus to his seat and presented him with a place of omurice. The middle brother was delighted and thanked Sans before quickly shoving a spoonful into his mouth.

Jack looked at the gradually disappearing meal with envy as he drank his milk, sulking meanwhile. The small table that was attached to his high toddler chair gave his elbows support to carry the heavy bottle.

He switched his gaze to Sans and succeeded to divert his mind from a dangerous topic... into another, more hazardous one. His eldest brothers top and bottom teeth were parted and in between those cute blunt teeth was a tongue – a blue one. It was only a second but his thoughts were transported into a heavily unsafe territory. Very mature. Very NSFW. And very much to his liking.

Jack immediately redirected his eyelights towards the kitchen entrance while the milk was leaking out of his mouth as he couldn’t quite manage to swallow properly after that alluring display.

Shit, man. That was seriously dangerous for his health. If he had been older...

He quickly shook his skull, trying to forget those sinful images flooding his mind, uncaring that the milk was splattered everywhere. He was unaware that he was being stared at oddly by his two brothers.

When Gaster re-entered the kitchen with a guest in tow it was to the sight of his youngest child spraying the table with milk.

Never had he witnessed his daughter acting like a babybones before other than throwing a tantrum during the night or feeding time and that almost brought a tear to his eyesockets. Gyftmas truly brought forth miracles!

...But what a messy miracle this was!

A few seconds ticked by before the sudden silence snapped Jack out of his... whatever it was he was doing. He was quick to hide behind his phalanges as his bones colored lavender from embarrassment.

“Ho Ho Ho! Gaster told me much about you, little one.”

The booming laughter was soon followed by Jack being swept into the arms of a fluffy monster. To be more accurate, it was the king of all monsters himself, Asgore Dreemurr, who was currently dressed as Santa Claus.

...Please release him. For the love of all that is good; Jack was dying of embarrassment. A grown man such as himself wasn’t supposed to be carried by a Santa cosplaying old goat.

“SANTAAAAA!!”

“Howdy, Papyrus. You’ve grown bigger.”

The king smiled behind his fake white beard as Paps jumped off his chair and tackle-hugged one of the fluffy monsters legs. Aww, so cute!

“YEAH. MERRY GYFTMAS, SANTA! AM I IN THE GOOD- NO, GREAT CHILDREN LIST THIS YEAR?”

“Merry Gyftmas to you as well, my child. And of course. You’ve been well behaved throughout the whole year! Santa’s very proud of you.”

“WOWIE! DID YOU HEAR THAT DAD... ERR, BROTHER? SANTA SAID HE’S PROUD OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH HEH.”

Jack noticed Gaster had taken the first opportunity to escape to his workshop sometime after guiding ‘Santa’ to the kitchen. The three skelebros were too used to his random disappearing acts to mind it.

* sure did, papy.

“Ho ho ho. Before I forget, young ones, here are your presents.”

Asgore took out three brightly wrapped boxes from... somewhere and gave it to the three of them.

“THANK YOU, SANTA! CAN THE GREAT PAPYRUS OPEN HIS PRESENT NOW, PLEASE?”

“Go right ahead, my child.” The king smiled warmly, his eyes full of fondness.

Jack himself was almost blinded by Papyrus’ bright smile. The excited skeleton turned to Sans – who was busy with tying a cute bow on a handkerchief that held a few bone-shaped cookies inside – and placed both his skeletal hands on his pelvis.

“BEFORE THAT, BROTHER SHOULD THANK SANTA TOO.”

* thanks, santa. _ice_ of you to drop by every year.

“NYEH?! STOP RUINING GYFTMAS WITH YOUR AWFUL PUNS, SANS!”

* aw, don’t be like that, bro. let’s open our presents as soon as i –

“DON’T FINISH THAT – “

* _wrap_ this up.

“NYOOHHHHHH!!!”

And that’s a wrap.

...Ah, that was wholly unintentional, man!

* * *

**Title: Fan theories**   
**Age: 3 years old**

Jack stared up with eager eyelights at the neon letters hanging above the doorway to the only restaurant within Snowdin – Grillby’s. He was famished, to be honest. His brothers were both attending school so that left Gaster as his only option for a sitter.

A bad decision but who else would Sans trust to properly take care of his little siblings when he wasn’t around?

Anyway, because Sans would always have the final saying in this household, Gaster agreed to take time off of work and look after Jack. Too bad for Jack, his dad had actually forgotten to prepare their meal(s). So that left him running on empty as he scratched desperately on his father’s door.

Food over pride.

When the bedrooms heavy metal door opened, the man himself was wearing a complete set of full-body protective gear as if he was ready to build a nuclear bomb.

Jack ~~demanded food~~ told Gaster that he was hungry and thus here they were. Outside of Grillby’s, just wanting to finally consume some well fried, greasy food.

Papyrus would be screaming disapprovals if he were with them. That thought caused Jack to giggle.

As soon as they both entered the restaurant/bar, Jacks eyelights were immediately drawn to the flaming hot bartender. Grillby looked fine if he did say so himself. If Jack wasn’t so into Sans, he would’ve slipped into the fire elementals DMs.

Perhaps when he grew older, he would have to date other monsters/humans to try and get over his disgusting affection for his eldest brother, but for now he would enjoy it while it lasted. He knew that time flies and soon he would be attending both of his brothers weddings...

Great, now he had no mood for food.

What a downer.

Gaster led him to a booth near the bar and was quick to scan through the menu. Jack did the same and after a few seconds half-heartedly told his dad that he wanted the kids meal of smol burg and fries.

“Something on your mind?”

The scientist placed the menus to one side as he looked at Jack.

“Ah’m fine. Jus’ hungwy.”

“Is that so...? Well, if you’re absolutely sure – but you do know that you can tell me anything, right, Century?”

He nodded, his permanent smile not dropping at all as he looked down at his gloved hands.

Please don’t make him speak. Inner monologues were fine but speaking out loud just caused him unbearable pain. He was an adult in the body of a child. His pronunciation was shit and his voice was disgustingly high and feminine.

Usually, when it was just the two of them, they would bond through their silence (so Gaster must understand that he did not want to speak). Most of the time, dad would just teach him how to speak with hands – which he thoroughly enjoys, by the way.

Sign language was interesting but it was a bitch to learn in his previous life due to how expensive language classes were. Three hundred dough for a week’s session of learning ASL when he had no opportunity to even use it? No thank you.

And now he was learning it for free. Yay for reincarnation. Though it would’ve been better if he was not in a video game... And if he were real... And not just someone’s imagination... That could be wiped out at any point of ti-

Jack smacked his cheekbones when his thoughts derailed into a domain he despised the most. He would not have an existential crisis in an awesome restaurant like this!

Disregarding all the other monsters that were looking at their booth with funny and amusing faces, Jack turned his attention to Grillby, who had just arrived and was taking dads order.

Wait a minute.

Jack narrowed his sockets as he stared at the two of them. The doc was actually interacting with someone outside the family. Making small talk with Grillby at that. And Grillby... was casually leaning on their table to get closer to his dad.

He did not know they were friends.

...

Oh.  
My.  
Staarsss?!

Jack immediately crossed that out his imaginary window when Grillby actually smoothened dad’s turtleneck. And Gaster actually didn’t look concerned about it and continued without even a break in their conversation. That over familiar atmosphere they had going on...

Suspicious!

He felt something clogging his throat as he stared at the two of them, his brain trying to process what he was currently witnessing.

Furthermore, the older of the two skeletons voluntarily made contact with someone apart from their family. And Jack knew how much the scientist hated being touched by others.

Gaster had smoothly adjusted Grillby’s glasses and even blushed a dark purple when the fire elemental nuzzled into his metacarpals.

The sight of those two... filled Jack with an emotion he knew all to well.

His cheeks were stained lavender as his imagination ran wild.

It forced him to look away.

Fan theories were scarily accurate at times.

* * *

**Title: The big coming out**   
**Age: 4 years old**

It was a day like any other... Except there was a terrible snowstorm raging outside. The whole town of Snowdin was on lockdown. The mayor made an announcement way too early in the morning that the weather was going to go bad very soon.

Storms down here were more frequent than back on the surface. He guessed the magic creating the weather built up too much sometimes and caused a violent reaction to empty out all the energy.

Each area in the underground seemed to have its own weather and thus its own weather discharge. In the past the doc told him once about a brutal heat wave where he worked. It caused all the air conditioning in his lab to malfunction so everyone had to be evacuated. After that incident there was a law in place that forbid anyone from working if there was such a weather discharge.

The snow storm right now had just started and it was already blocking all the doors and windows outside. Gaster was at home, since he was unable to go to work. So he and the three brothers were making themselves comfortable in the living room, bringing blankets and pillows from all their rooms to build a big area to lie on.

While Papyrus and their dad were busy arranging the pillows to make the nest as comfortable as possible Sans and Jack were in the kitchen making snacks. While he was busy filling the bowls with various chisps and gummy things he got lost in his thoughts.

Now that he was much older in body than the last time he thought about this topic, he really wanted to tell his new family. Four years is a long time, not as long as the 16/17 years he felt uncomfortable in his fleshy, female body back in his previous life, but he still cringed every time he got called the wrong gender or name.

It made him feel sick and he couldn’t take it anymore.

He had the idea of a gender reveal for a while now. Nursing the thought and investigating if his new family was as unaccepting as his old one. He found no transphobia or misogyny in these monsters. It gave him a boost of hope and confidence to finally come out to them.

He was still unsure how, though.  
The reveal to his human family had been a major flop.

He brought them all in one room and they all sat down to talk about it. His father had been the first to brutally reject him and it seemed to influence his mother too. Maybe he had to talk to the skeletons one by one? It was the only other idea that he could think of.

Jack looked up at the eldest of the skeleton brothers. Sans was the most mature and collected of them, even compared to their father. And he was alone with the stout skeleton currently. It was obvious he should start with him first. But how should he go about this? Should he... just outright tell him?

Jack thought about it some more while he got various beverages out of the fridge. It would be best not to beat around the bush. Sans was very good at finding out what was up anyways, so he would just make himself suspicious.

With a nod to himself he steeled his heart (or more like soul now) for the worst possible reaction.

“Sans, can I tell you something?”

* hm? what’s up, century?

Jack took a deep breath. He was suddenly very nervous and almost dropped the bottle of milk.

“So, I’ve thought for a long while... About... stuff.”

Oh stars. Come on, Jack, don’t tuck in your tail now!

* what stuff? did something happen?

Sans was already narrowing his eyes at him.  
Now or never!

“It’s about my name...”

He was clenching the counter like a lifeline. If he had human hands, his knuckles would be white for sure.  
Sans had now fully turned his body towards him, snacking on some of the chisps while leaning against the counter.

* what about your name? you can _patella_ me everything, little sis, i won’t judge.

Oh, Sans, if you’d know your own future.  
Jack cleared his nonexistent throat.

“I, um... I decided.... I don’t... want to be... a girl anymore...”

Out. It was out. Finally. That wasn’t so hard now, was it, man?  
He felt like he was fainting, all he could see was darkness. Why could he not see?  
...Oh. He seemed to have tightly shut his eyes after he was done talking. He could not blame himself though. Coming out is scary. Speaking of coming out, Sans was oddly quiet.

Jack took a careful peek at the older skeleton.  
He was just standing there, casually munching on chisps while looking at him with a gentle smile.  
Jack turned towards him, still unsure what would happen now that he was out.  
Before he could say anything though, Sans spoke up.

* you okay, bud? almost looked like you’d faint there.

All Jack could do was nod, still feeling the adrenaline rush through him.

* hehe, heeyy, its okay, bro. here, have a gummy worm. guess it’s the thing you were missing, huh?

He took the gummy worm, numbly staring at it before it clicked.

OH MY STARS! DID HE JUST CALL HIM ‘BRO’??

“Did- did you just call me-“

* now, what’s the name of my cool new little brother?

Big, lavender colored tears were streaming down his cheeks. Brother!

“J-Jack.”

Sans pressed his teeth to his forehead in a skeleton kiss before embracing him tightly.

* welcome to the family, jack.

Jack clung to him like a vice, both their bodies shaking by his quiet sobs.  
After he finally calmed down (and after Papyrus’ annoyed shouts for them to come watch tv) they were gathering the bowls, beverages and mugs to bring to the living room.

* you wanna tell them too?

“I-I don’t know. I’m scared.”

* don’t worry, i’m sure they’d love to have an upgrade to their family member count. i’ll be with you the whole time, too.

“O-okay.”

Jack sniffed and nodded, finally moving to bring the drinks to the living room.

The talk had been filled with tears and lots of hugs. Jack felt warm and happy. He truly loved his family. Fuck his old one. Now he was sitting with his loved ones in a warm, comfortable nest, binge-watching cartoons and eating snacks.

He held a gummy worm to his face, intending to eat it but stopping. Sans had given him one earlier. What had he said again? He’d been missing one...

His eyelights vanished.

_Did Sans make a lewd joke?!_

He glanced at the eldest brother who was currently in a tickle fight with Papyrus.

Naaahhh, he would never.

...Right, man?

* * *

**Title: Rache ist süß**   
**Age: 4 years old**

> Dear mother that has never existed in this life,
> 
> this is your son, ~~Century~~ Jack. I am currently writing this letter (which will be burned effectively immediately upon completion) to you due to a problem of mine.
> 
> Yes, that is right. Those damn rabbits have finally snapped what little patience i have left. Can you imagine that they actually made Papyrus cry? No? Well, it did happen. Papyrus did cry.
> 
> All because he heard their gossipy talk. Mind, they were the soft kind and not the type I heard during my younger years being carried daily by my love eldest brother Sans. But I do not care. Whatever they said made my cinnamon roll of a brother cry. It was a silent one that was more scary than heartbreaking, to be honest, but let’s not look into that. Thus, it is my job to make every and all leporidae in Snowdin cry rivers of blood.
> 
> Now I have a few plans in mind.
> 
> 1\. Sneak into their homes in the middle of the night and kill them off.  
> \- reasoning for ‘this is a bad idea’: my LV will increase.
> 
> 2\. Mutilate the rabbits and hang their feet as lucky charms around my room.  
> \- reasoning for ‘this is a bad idea’: my door lock is broken due to Papyrus kicking the door in.
> 
> 3\. Hire a hitmonster and let them do the killing.  
> \- reasoning for ‘this is a bad idea’: no money.
> 
> 4\. Create a network and slowly but surely kill them with embarrassment.  
> \- reasoning for ‘this is a bad idea’: none.
> 
> I shall go with plan 4, as that is the best plan out of the rest. Do you not agree, mother-who-doesn’t-exist?
> 
> Firstly, to create an information network, I will need to build relationships with the right people across the town and definitely outside as well. Having a right-hand man will also create a solid alibi by letting them do everything in my stead as I pretend to be the innocent child I am.
> 
> After having built the basic foundation of the net, I will extend my network slowly as careless mistakes are often made when rushed. And after that my plan can begin. This will be a slow-going process which might take years, however, but in the end the fruits of my efforts will be delicious. As the saying goes, revenge is sweet.
> 
> In conclusion, with the net I have going I can spread dastardly rumors about those wretched rabbits and blackmail them without even lifting a finger. I can even manipulate the rumors they so love to spread. They will all soon be doubting each other and then...
> 
> MWAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> Love,  
> Jack

* jack? what’re you doin’ in that corner, laughing creepily?

“-hee hee hee...!!! Huh? Oh, nothing, brother dearest. Just doing homework.”

* ...you haven’t started school yet.

“More so should I start preparing myself.”

* if you say so.

“Absolutely.”

* * *

**Title: Hold on... Aren’t you supposed to be the spawn of Satan?**   
**Age: 5 years old**

It was another boring day in Snowdin. Boring because Gaster decided that bringing Jack to the playground was a great idea for a bonding experience. Which, by the way, was useless when he was told to play with others whilst Gaster relaxed somewhere else.

Jack glared at his oblivious dad who, to his secret delight, was conversing with Grillby on the bench near him. Those two were so adorable! Why were they not dating yet? Anybody with eyes could see the sexual tension surrounding those two.

With a roll of his eyelights, Jack decided that he would rather do anything else than play with other snot-nosed brats. He wandered around the playground a little to find a secluded corner. Maybe he could try to climb a tree or something. He loved to do that back on the surface. And now that his body didn’t have all the flaws of a human he could do all the things he dreamed of in his past life.

He noticed a group of boys eyeing him strangely and decided to climb the nearest tree. It was a little difficult though. Many branches were frozen and thus quite slippery but he had good gloves to grip with so he reached the top pretty quickly. Sadly the trees around the playground were only small unlike the huge pines in the surrounding forest. But he had respect of those trees. He knew he needed to be older and more secure in his limbs to climb those.

But right now he just wanted to enjoy the nice cold atmosphere and the height advantage he had on this tree. He could see all the kids and parents on the playground and even a bit of the surrounding town.

Right as he was about to get up and jump to the next tree, he spotted the human sitting right next to him on the branch. He got startled so hard he almost fell out of the tree. The human was somewhat transparent and was looking at the monsters on the ground with a fond, wistful look.

 _Whoa! What beautiful eyes!_  
Dark brown, with a red shimmer.

The human noticed him staring and turned to him, confusion clear in their gaze.

“What? Never seen a cute skeleton before?”

He harrumphed sarcastically, hiding his inner wariness. Was this Chara? It was too early in the timeline for Frisk to appear.

Jack was confused and wary. He knew from the game that they died a long time ago and the tales he heard through the grapevine only confirmed that. It was centuries ago that they were last alive. That’s deader than dead.

“You can see me?”

Wha-? What did they mean? Of course he could see them. They were right there on the branch with him.

“Um... of course I can see you? How did you get on my branch without me noticing anyway?”

Not-Chara was semi-transparent, now that he got a closer look, and the snow around where they were sitting was not wiped away at all.  
Suddenly a bird flew past him and right through Not-Chara’s body. It creeped him out a little but he understood now. It was obvious that the child sitting before him was long gone from the world of the living. It was strange that he was able to see a ghost though.

“Well, never mind that. Wanna join me and enjoy the trees a little?”

“Sounds nice. Why not?”

Not-Chara shrugged their shoulders and stood up besides Jack before they both jumped to the next tree to sit down to enjoy the new angle to look at things.

“So... I’m Jack. Skeleton monster.”

„Chara. Invisible-to-all-but-aparently-not-you spirit or along those lines anyway.

“Sounds cool. Let’s be friends.”

“Sure.”

Having an invisible friend would definitely make things a whole lot easier in the gather information department. Especially in places that are all but restricted to Gaster and Asgore.

* * *

**Title: Best friends – ripe for the teasing**   
**Age: 7**

“You’ll be turning 7 soon huh... Time sure flies.”

Chara suddenly appeared next to him as he was taking out the trash. Luckily Jack was used to their sudden appearances and random opening dialogues.

“Mhm.”

“So. What present do you have in mind? Your super bestie will give you anything you want.”

Chara pat their puffed out chest proudly as they smiled confidently at Jack.

“Here, I made a wishlist.”

Jack handed a piece of paper to Chara, who gleefully accepted... only to narrow their eyes at what was written on it.

“...This is your grocery list! And ¾ of it is ketchup!”

“Oh? My bad. It’s this one, man.”

Chara received the other paper and immediately crumpled it and threw it on the ground.

Money for a giant bottle of ketchup

“Wish something for yourself, you bro-con!”

“Says the ecosexual.”

“Who is?!”

“You.”

“Ah-! I-I’m not a treehugger!!”

“You are.”

“And how did you come to that obviously wrong conclusion?!”

“Your favorite color is green.”

Jack crossed his arms and tilted his chin a little upwards so that he appeared to be looking down on the other child, even though he was shorter.

“What has that got anything to do with being an ecosexual?!” His best friend retorted, black liquid leaking out of their eyes.

The black liquid meant that Chara had become flustered and frustrated – or when they were feeling intense or deep emotions. Time to up the game. Teasing Chara would never grow dull with those amusing reactions.

“You glare at every monster that litters.”

“Because littering is bad!”

“You always water neglected potted plants during the night.”

“Wha-...! Have you been stalking me?!”

“You always have lustful eyes when staring at plants.”

“Are those eyelights of yours just for show?!”

“You couldn’t even face the direction of someone eating vegetables.”

“That’s because veggies taste disgusting!”

“You always dream of having sexual intercourse with trees.”

“Stop ignoring me! And how do I have dreams when I don’t sleep?!”

“And lastly: you stalk after a talking flower at least five times a week.”

“How did you even know that?!”

“And that’s how I conclude that you are, in fact, an ecosexual.”

“...GAAAHHHH!!! KISS YOUR PRESENT GOODBYE, CENTURY JACK!”

With that, Chara stomped off into the distance and vanished as they turned a corner. Not leaving a single footprint behind.

Jack himself couldn’t hold it in anymore and roared with laughter. Of course he knew Chara wasn’t an ecosexual but he just couldn’t stop. His best bud’s reaction was pure gold.

After a few moments had passed where he finally calmed his tits, he swaggered towards the direction of where Chara disappeared to, intending to apologise for teasing – although his face still had a huge shit-eating grin – and to get his birthday present.

He idly wondered if he should update his wishlist.

* * *

**Title: The cinnamon roll and the sinnamon roll**   
**Age: 8**

The years passed by in the blink of an eyesocket. From him being reincarnated into a video game into the eight-year-old he was now. So many things have changed, some for the better, some not.

He still has some minor case of existential crisis, but it got better with Chara comforting him at times where he was too confused to know what was real, and what was not.

Other than that, Gaster had finally been persuaded that he needed to socialize more, and since that day onwards, they had made it a family tradition to go to Grillby's every Sunday night for dinner.

Papyrus hated the greasy food they ate in that restaurant, but because Grillby was such a softy, he had cooked healthy food just for Papyrus. Every day was a surprise for the middle skeleton brother.

Sans became more laid back as the years passed by, knowing that his younger brothers could take care of themselves, yet still mothering them all (dad included) when he came back from university.

Jack happily munched on his fries as he held onto Sans’ metacarpals while the family walked home from Grillby’s. He enjoyed having his family together since they rarely were anymore.

Papyrus had skipped grades and was attending the last year of college while Sans was on the verge of graduating university, so they both were incredibly busy. On the other hand, Gaster was buried with never-ending projects and came home late at night only to sleep.

Jack did feel lonely at first but after persuading Gaster (mostly Sans though) that he was ready to attend junior high even though he was only eight years old. He now went to school with Papyrus every day, since their schools were next to each other.

As soon as they all reached home, Gaster immediately left for his lab (bedroom turned lab actually) whilst Papyrus declared it to be nap time and ran to the bathroom to shower before bed. Sans on the other hand pat Jacks skull and slowly made his way towards his room where he could sleep away like the lazybones he was.

Whilst his family members were busy doing whatever, Jack quickly shut his door and grinned dementedly. It was time to sew a plush. A Sans plush.

With perseverance powering him, he pulled an all-nighter making a Sans plushie that could be hugged to sleep. Big enough to enjoy cuddling but small enough to hide it from his family.

Unlucky for him, Papyrus kicked his bedroom door open...

“NYEH! WHY HAVEN’T YOU GONE TO BED YET, LITTLE BROTHER?”

and saw what he was doing.

“This isn’t what it looks like!” he squeaked out as he tried and failed to hide the plushie of their eldest brother behind his back.

“OH! ARE YOU MAKING A PLUSHIE OF OUR FAMILY? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME, LITTLE BROTHER? THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HELP YOU!”

“Y-yeah. Thanks... Papy...”

The things he did for his sweet cinnamon roll of an older brother.

* * *

**Title: Ignorance is bliss**   
**Age: 9**

Gaster's POV

He was currently teaching his student, Alphys, how to create a portable lava gun when the alarms started blaring loudly.

The two of them looked at each other, Gaster with confusion and panic whilst Alphys with fear.

What Gaster discovered after a minute looking through his main computer's data was something VERY bad.

"Alphys, get out of here."

For the first time in so long, he made sure that his voice was commanding as he narrowed his eye sockets at the computer screen, trying to block out the noisy sounds of an emergency.

"B-b-but Doctor G-gaster the c-core...!"

"Exactly. Now leave. Inform the King what has happened. I will try to stop it from exploding."

"But to d-do that you w-will need t-to..."

The reptilian Monster had tears in her eyes as she stared at him, knowing what needed to be done to stop the explosion from happening.

Gaster couldn't help but to smile proudly at his student. She was truly a smart Monster. It was too bad he would not be able to see her fully mature. Just a few more years of exposure to his family and he might've been able to fill her with confidence.

"There's no time. Please, take care of my family for me, Alphys."

"P-please come back, doctor G-gaster."

"I make no promises. Now go. We have no time left for nonsensical chatter."

With a final look, Alphys ran out of the shaking lab, her little legs carrying her towards the castle to inform the King of what was happening.  
Gaster took the picture of his three sons out of his coat's pocket as he smiled sadly.

"Sans... take care of your brothers. I'm sorry for always burdening you. I'll make sure to come home early every night in my next life. No, I'll make sure to keep my promises to you even in the afterlife. Papyrus, you're amazing. Never let any Monster tell you otherwise. You are the greatest warrior in my eyes. Jack... I know how much you hated your body. I'm sorry for being such a clumsy dad to you. Please stop fantasizing about your eldest brother? Hahaha... I love all three of you very much, my sons. Please... Live. Live a beautiful and fruitful life. Never regret anything. Hahaha... How hypocritical... I wished I had told Grillby my feelings before this. I'm so pathetic..."

His voice was hoarse as purple tears leaked out from his eye sockets.

Even though he was afraid of death, he was determined to keep his family and the people he loves safe.

His phalanges soon flew across the keyboard, and after a few minutes, he stood at the edge of the burning hot core, his form already liquefying due to the intense heat.

As he took a step forwards, plunging down the core, he held his family's photo close, his eyelights never leaving his sons' faces as he melted into goo.  
...

..

.

~~\----------------------------~~

Jack looked towards the direction of Hotland, wondering why his soul was fluttering uneasily for the past few hours.

He pulled out his phone but his phalanges hesitated to press the speed dial for his dad. Gaster was always busy. Jack shouldn’t disturb his work...

It was sudden, but the whole Underground shook as if an earthquake had hit. Everyone was in a panic as they shouted and as their teacher tried to keep the teenagers calm, he ducked underneath his desk and braced himself, his phone was dialling his dad’s.

The shaking left as quickly as it came and after having calmed the class down the teacher started to count the students as well as contacting their guardians.

“Century, what was your father’s number again?”

“Don’t you mean Sans? I don’t have a dad.”

"Oh right. Silly me. Must've slipped my mind."

As he stared at his phone's screen, currently in a call with an unknown number, Jack felt an incredible agonizing sensation stabbing deep into his soul.

Why did it feel so wrong when he told the teacher a simple fact?

He has never had a father.

* * *

**Title: Wretched voice**   
**Age: 10**

[Random Teachers POV]

“-nk you for that splendid performance, Layla!”

She smiled as she clapped, proud that her favourite student had performed so well. The female rabbit monster, Layla, was beaming as she returned to her seat.

Seeing that everyone else had calmed down, she quickly scanned the list. When she saw the name of the next student who would be shown casting their talent, her snout wrinkled in a grimace.

_Oh no... Next is the troubled student, Century. Hopefully the kid would be better behaved with his family here._

“It’s now your turn, Century. What talent are you going to show us today?”

The girl stood from her seat and walked forward, fidgeting nervously and glaring at a few students.

This was going to be bad for her health – she could just feel it.

“I don’t really have an instrument with me. I hope that’s okay.”

Already annoyed at the incompetence of the young girl, the teacher rolled her eyes but gave her the okay anyway.

“Yes, okay that’s fine. What are you going to do then?”

“I-I’ll be... s-singing a cover of the song Technicolor Beat.”

“Techni what now? Never heard of that song. Ah, nevermind. Why don’t you just start.”

She was honestly surprised the girl decided to sing. Her voice was always quiet and frail. She would always have to tell her to speak up and even then she only got croaks and stutters. It always disrupted her class, as all the students would laugh and not calm down for a while.

She got thrown out of her thoughts when she heard the first voice. When the second voice started, the whole room was silent. Everybody was staring at the young skeleton girl holding a hand to her throat while the other was snapping a beat. Was she manipulating her voice with magic? It sounded ethereal, hearing two voices singing at once.

Her eyes got big and round as the actual lyrics started. _Two more_ voices, singing at the same time, one male one female. If she didn’t have visual confirmation that there was only a lone skeleton girl on the stage, she’d think there was a whole group of sirens singing.

As the climax of the song came, even more voices joined the melody, all singing different things. Every monsters eyes were wide and jaws were dropping. She never heard something so beautiful before.

When the song ended the girl opened her eyes again and immediately morphed into the shy, troubled student from before.

Silence swept across the audience for a moment longer before everyone started clapping and cheering. The skeleton on stage did a quick bow to the audience before rushing off stage and out the room into the hallways.

She turned to Century’s brother but found him missing. Wha-? Shaking her head, she just called up the next student.

~~\-------------------~~

[Meanwhile, in the hallway]

* hey, bud. you did so well. i’m so proud of you. that performance was _magical_.

A chuckle broke through Jacks sobbing.

“I-it was so s-scary thouuugh.” he managed to get a few words through his sobs but slowly calmed down as Sans started rubbing his back.

When the tears stopped, the older brother wiped them away and pulled his youngest brother into a tight embrace.

* good job on the two-tone, bud. with enough practice you can completely bring forth the male voice. if you want i can help you.

Jack nodded into his brother’s shoulder. They stood there, embracing for a while before heading back into the gym room where the talent show had went on without them.

~~\------------------~~

[Chara's POV]

Chara had aided Jack in practicing the song, listening to him when they were alone.  
Before the performance, he had voiced his fears concerning the huge audience and his anxiety.

“How about you just close your eyes and pretend it’s just me you’re singing to?”

“But how do I do that? I’d still know I am on stage, singing to all kinds of people.”

They had trained and trained to stimulate his senses in such a way that with a bit of magic from him and Charas determination, they’d be able to project his mind into a sort of vacuum where he only saw Chara and thought they were alone.

Now, as they were watching Jack on stage, they only felt pride for their best friend.  
The vacuum didn’t work when he closed his eyes. Propably due to him being too agitated. He was singing on stage, knowing that people were watching and listening.

Chara noticed, however, that he was in a sort of trance. It might’ve been a subconscious defence mechanism, who knew. But he snapped out of it once the song was done, rushing out of the gym hall.

Jack caught their eyes while he was crying into his brother’s shoulder. Chara gave a thumbs up and received a relieved smile.

They always wanted him to smile like that.

* * *

**Title: A hobby best kept secret**   
**Age: 13**

“What are we looking for, Jack? This place stinks.” Chara whined as they pinched their nose in distaste.

“I... have survived 13 long years without my lifeblood. Now that I am old enough to leave the house unsupervised, I am going to finally pick up a long lost hobby of mine.”

“Which is...?” They drawled with boredom as they floated on top of Jack.

He truly was jealous of Charas ability to float on air and phase through objects at times like this. While he was covered in grime and nasty smelling fluids, Chara was having no problem with where they currently were.

They were currently at the garbage dump.

Back when he was human, Jack would collect adult magazines. So for thirteen years he had nothing but his brother to... admire. He needed something else to ogle at, lest he get bored of Sans (but that would never happen). 

Sans was always busy with his job as a sentry. And although Jack was not informed, he knew that Sans had been chosen to be a judge. It was obvious. And because he had future knowledge.

Papyrus, on the other hand, was always training with Undyne. Jack had always liked her, even though he hasn’t seen her often. But in the game and various fanfics she always acted like a big sister, which was admirable.

“Why do i suddenly have a feeling that you’re making inner monologues in your head, Jack?”

“Because that’s exactly what I’m doing, Chara ol’ pal. AHA! Jackpooot!”

He held up a bunch of magazines, still wrapped in foil, and struck a pose. These pages were his baby Simba and Jack was Rafiki right now.

“You do know your brothers will never allow you to keep those, right?”

“I’m a skeleton. I can hide all sorts of things in my ribcage. Hee hee hee!”

“...Why do I put up with you?” Chara sighed as they facepalmed, wondering for the nth time why they even bothered to be friends with such a weirdo.

* * *

**Title: Chara’s creepy best friend**   
**Jack’s Age: 14 > 15**

[Chara’s POV]

The two of them were sitting cross-legged beside one another on the snowy ground (Chara was floating, but details) at the corner of the playground, just chatting idly as Jack busied himself with making a miniature snow sculpture of his eldest brother, Sans, who the smallest skeleton had an unhealthy obsession with.

Chara had their elbows resting on their thighs and their palms cupping their rosy cheeks as they stared at the way Jacks gloved phalanges moulded the snow expertly through half-lidded eyes. They truly pitied Sans for having such a stalkerish little brother - not that the person in question even knows about his little brother’s obsession with him.

The little guy beside Chara was too cunning and deceptive for his own good. Sometimes, they often wondered how a fourteen-year-old was so mentally developed. But when they took into consideration of Jacks family... It all made sense.

Jacks father was the head of the royal scientists (the title and position given to the most intelligent Monster), his eldest brother was the judge (the title and position given to the strongest magical being) and a sentry as cover, and last but not least, his middle brother was the lead strategist of the royal guards (the position given to the most quick-witted Monster, more so in warfare and schemes... even though Papyrus preferred to make puzzles that were harmless).

Chara couldn’t help but shudder a little, earning a questioning look from Jack, but merely waved it off. The skele-family was not to be trifled with.

As the sculpture began to slowly take shape, Chara bemoaned the state they were in. Being intangible sucks, but they had yet to reach the LV required to be corporeal. They could touch things that were small for a certain amount of time, but usually, they were just like any other human ghost - unseeable and untouchable. They decided to suck it up and just wait for another human to fall - being a back-seat passenger wasn't that bad. Free EXP without lifting a finger, if the human was homicidal like the last few, anyway. 

"So you spent the whole day with Papyrus making three additional skeleton dolls as a cover? A whole skele family doll collection?"

That made Jack frown.

"Two only. Don’t you know how to count?"

"Of course I do." It was just that Jack couldn’t remember ever having a dad. Better to keep it that way for now. They didn’t want to see their best friend in _that_ state again. "So that’s a distraction?"

"Yep. He’s a precious cinnamon roll, so he frequently misunderstands me, which makes things easier to-"

"Bullshit your way out of an embarrassing situation."

"Exactly."

"You shouldn’t have made a Sans plushie in the first place. That’s creepy as heck."

"Shut up. If I can’t have the real Sans, I’ll have to settle for a Sans-bear."

"You don’t have a doll of me stashed somewhere in your room, do you?" They asked gingerly, already preparing to flee from the psychopath if the skeleton said yes.

Jack just shot Chara a distasteful glance.

"Why would I ever want a plushie of you?"

Thank heavens! They breathed out a mental sigh of relief. Though Chara did feel a little offended. Just a little.

A few minutes passed by in companionable silence, and Chara’s eyes began to involuntarily trace the phalanges that, yet again, inconspicuously pressed against the young skeleton’s temporal bone through his hood.

It was a highly suspicious action, although not many would notice. Jack tended to avoid touching any part of his skull because of the injury he had gotten during his infant years. It made migraines ‘a fucking bitch’, to quote the other teen nicely.

"Why are you... Wait a second. You planted bugs, didn’t you?" Chara narrowed those red eyes of theirs. When did the underground even have things such as an easily hidden miniature microphone, anyway?

"All for study purposes, I assure you, man."

Was the half-hearted reply as the monster concentrated on making the chubby cheekbones of the snow sculpture perfect.

"Right." As if they would believe such a bold-faced lie.

"Did you know that Ugly Fish is going on a date tomorrow with Bun Bun? Oh, boy does that fish not know how wrong his choice of date is... serves him right."

There was a glint of something dark in those eyelights of his when he spoke the last three words. Chara wisely chose not to comment on that.

"What’s wrong with his date? Bun Bun is listed as the number one most attractive female monster in Snowdin - as per what the magazine polls stated anyway. She’s considered a great catch to other single Monsters."

"She’s into public humiliation and over the top BDSM. Her last partner - Furbii, if you were curious

("no I wasn’t curious, Jack")

\- almost had his penis amputated because she refused to remove the cock ring - and he wasn’t able to remove it himself because he was cuffed. The doctor has also just recently confirmed that there will be long-term damages. This all happened yesterday by the way."

"I’m not even going to question how you know rated MA things as well as confidential information. And Jack, that’s something I seriously didn’t need to hear. Now I need brain bleach. I’ll never look at Bun Bun or Furbii the same way ever again."

"You were the one who wanted to know, man.

("No I didn’t, bonehead!")

Besides, just by listening carefully to a handful of conversations, you can acquire a ton of knowledge regarding that person. You just need to learn how to pick up the hidden context and unspoken words."

"... You do know that you’re invading their privacy by eavesdropping and snooping, right?" It was pointing out the obvious, but they still felt obliged to say it, even if it was a wasted effort.

"You worry too much, Chara man. It’s not as if I’ll end up getting caught, or use the information recklessly."

Chara shook their head at the overconfident brat, their lips twitching upwards as their expression softened with evident fondness.

They had to hand it to the tiny skeleton - Jack truly was a master at his work. He had never been caught before, even though he was always the number one suspect. So with that in mind, they chose to remain silent concerning that.

"More like you’ll use the information when it’s to your benefit."

"Exactly."

"You’re not even going to try and deny it?"

"What’s the point? You’re you, man."

"That’s... pretty trusting of you. Kinda shocking, to be honest."

"Hey! What kind of monster do you take me as?"

"A cynical demon."

"Who are you calling cynical?"

"You should be more concerned when it’s _me_ that’s calling _you_ a demon, Jack."

"Ah, who cares!? Everyone here calls me- wait. Be quiet for a sec."

"What?"

"Ugly Fish just opened up an embarrassing can of worms for himself. Hah! This will definitely go into my ‘Skeletons in the closet’ book."

"Why are you aiming at Ugly Fish, anyway? I thought he’s one of Sans’ many drinking buddies?"

"That desperate bastard had the gall to try and come onto Sans. He should be glad I didn’t rip him a new one there and then."

No comment. Rather, were you stalking your brother again?

Chara couldn’t bother to ask the obvious so they decided that they needed a change in topics.

"... Why am I even here, Jack?"

"Because I’ll be bored sitting here all on my own, duh."

Jack tugged on his hood to try and cover more of his skull as he continued a little more quietly, his phalanges idly playing with a golden heart-shaped locket. The one Chara had gifted him for his birthday last year.

"And because it’s you."

Direct translation; because he was feeling lonely and wanted someone here with him, mainly Chara.

Chara felt the need to hug the cute skele. They resisted the urge and decided to go for an eye roll instead, although a small smile still lingered on their lips. They decided to take pity on the embarrassed skeleton monster (Aww, his cheekbones were covered in lavender. So cute!) and moved on.

"You do know that other Monsters are looking at you like you’re insane right?"

"Huh? Why would they? I’m making snow sculptures with a friend like any other kid, man."

"I’m invisible." And ‘any other kids’ don’t make sexualized snow sculptures of their older brother.

"..."

The bonehead stared blankly at Chara.

"..." Chara stared back with amusement, making their eyes shine more red than ever.

"Oh, fuck! I forgot about that!"

"You totally take after your da- uhh your second elder brother in that aspect."

"Are you calling Paps a numbskull?! Yo momma’s so fat!"

"Don’t ‘yo momma’ me, Creepact! Jeez. I said no such thing. You’re impossible."

The two ended up bickering, even more, making unnerved parents herd their children away from the seemly insane skeleton that was arguing with thin air.

Chara couldn't help but be glad that they had decided to befriend this kid even if said kid was - if they were, to be honest with themselves - a Machiavellian bastard through and through.

Even though the fourteen-year-old skeleton was as mad as Gerson was senile, Chara knew that deep down, Jack was a very kind and loyal monster that cared in his own dastardly (and creepy) way.

They cherish their nine years of friendship with Jack, and would do anything to keep their bond as tight as possible... though never crossing that line to something more involved. That was just plain suicidal. Just look at how sick this teenager was now acting - ogling the snow version of his eldest brother like it was the most natural thing to do. Chara wasn't one to cuss, but shit, their best friend was fucking creepy at times like this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, that coming out story almost brought me to tears.  
> With things like that, I always pour my heart into it. So these are real feelings, real anxieties, real wishes.
> 
> Can't really say 'I hope you like what I've written' since most of it comes from UnknownRegions story, but I'd still like to say it.
> 
> I know, most of this story is pretty much a copy of 'Future of Yours' with a few tweaks but trust me, it's gonna end up on a different path. I just had to have the beginning like this to form the base character of Jack.
> 
> Anyway, I love the comments you left so far. They gave me the determination to sit through this stars awful long ass chapter xD (no offense, UnknownRegion)
> 
> Hope to see you stay for more chapters. I'll be updating whenever I can. I promise I won't leave this story in the dust like all the others I've started. I'll try to perservere and work through my truckload of mental issues to bring you the newest in Jacks universe.
> 
> Stay awesome, man.


	7. Better run, better run, better run, yeah it's coming after you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hooray, the plot has finally started!   
> Lets all enjoy Papyrus' adorableness, Jacks slow slip into madness and Sans' suffering, hahaaa!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayoo! Sorry for taking such a long time with this chapter. Been editing it to and fro, trying to stray as far from the original story as possible without destroying the plotline.  
> Also depression and I've been not feeling well for a few weeks now.  
> Stay safe, yall! Go wash your hands! Don't hog essentials! Escape the virus!

It all went to shit when the fire nation attacked.

Just kidding!  
But it might as well have happened.

He knew it would happen eventually, but… he didn’t know it would happen so soon.  
If it was a gradual process, Jack wouldn’t have felt any need to be suspicious.  
Alas, it was an overnight shift.

Said flick of the switch happened a few days ago.  
Jack was just minding his own business, eating the inedible charcoal his middle brother called food. He had to take small bites, or else he wouldn’t be able to swallow it and then pretend to chew.  
Right in the middle of meal time, Sans appeared with a strained grin.  
Before he could move to hug his brother, as per usual routine, he was pulled into a bone crushing embrace along with Papyrus.

The tallest of the three seemed oblivious to the eldest’s change of behavior – which was a big relief. He couldn’t bear to even chip the energetic skeletons happy and positive character. He knew that if anyone of the family were upset, it would affect the big cinnamon roll too.  
Sans seriously should be awarded an Oscar or two. How he managed to keep up this friendly, happy façade was beyond him. Jack wasn’t fooled by those fake smiles and nonchalant attitude though. He, more than once, witnessed his ~~crush~~ eldest brother break down when he thought he was alone. He always had to physically fight with himself not to jump out of his hiding places and comfort the smol monster.

He was more than worried. More than scared. He was outright terrified.  
The resets had begun. He didn’t know when exactly they started but he could guess they have been going on for a _while_ , judging from Sans’ overall twitchy behavior.

Further validation of the damn resets was yesterday morning. That was the worst by far.

Everyone had woken up. Everything was normal, but…  
Sans had outright _glued_ himself to the two other skele monsters and persuaded them into skipping school and work to watch boring as fuck MTT movies that only Papy adored.

Sans despised those movies. And the rectangle robot in general.

Yes.

_DESPISED!_

Another thing was how jumpy and overprotective Sans was being.  
They had been talking a stroll through Waterfall to release some pent-up energy. Both him and Paps disliked being forced to one place for too long. Jack was getting used to not having to carry kilos upon kilos of flesh and organs around, so he loved the freedom of having more stamina to run and climb around in Snowdins forest.  
Anyway, back to the topic at hand.  
Waterfall stroll.  
Sans had, to Jacks displeasure and Paps’ confusion, picked the former up and took a shortcut to avoid a damm rock.  
You heard right. A fucking shortcut was used to avoid a stupid rock.  
It wasn’t even a big rock. Papyrus could’ve picked it up with one hand.

He understood his brother was paranoid but it was getting slightly on his nerves. He hated being babied.  
But he was still very much also freaked out.  
Sans didn’t even utter a single joke. For the whole day. No jokes. No puns. Not even knock-knock jokes.  
Nope. Not a single one.

Which, of course, made Papyrus happy… maybe. He couldn’t be sure. Papyrus was even harder to read than Sans.

The anxiety was getting to him. He had to do something. Go somewhere. Anywhere.  
So, he put on his outside clothes (Yes, he had inside and outside clothes. Don’t judge him.) consisting of black leggings with purple polka dots, a purple and black striped sweater, a sweet pair of boots that had a special pattern on the soles for climbing (he got those for his last birthday, hell yeah) and a gothic-lolita windbreaker. (Clothes have no gender. Shush!)

The routine calmed him a little but he couldn’t help the shiver of fear that ghosted down his spine.

Fact #1: A reset or several had definitely happened. Jack had no recollection of the past timeline/s.

Fact #2: The last reset, or all of the previous resets, was the Genocide Route. That’s the only way to fuck Sans up so much.

Fact #3: Papyrus and Sans were going to die.

Fact #4: He was going to die.

Jack cringed as his whole body shook, creating a violent rattling sound. He could’ve been mistaken for a rattlesnake.

He couldn’t deny, due to the depression he brought from his previous life he was pretty apathetic to dying, but it was still a horrifying thought. His apathy alongside with his existential crisis was like gasoline for the fire that was his anxiety.  
He knew that if he did not use his magic, he would be like any other cannon fodder out there. True, he had a lot of stamina for running and climbing away from the murderous human, but he could not last forever. And from what he knew about humans, they were built to outsmart their prey. Bringing them down in the most brutal of ways. Let it be hiding and waiting, laying traps or just following until their target was too tired to escape.

He probably wouldn’t even have a dialogue because he would just be fine powder after one hit.

Terror immediately gripped onto his very being. Images of Undyne melting, Toriel breaking apart after a deadly hug and Papyrus being decapitated flashed through his mind along with Sans’ soul-clenching ending at the Last Corridor.

A whimper forced itself past his dry throat that he didn’t have and he managed to snap himself out of his pathetic and negative state. He needed to act as if he didn’t know anything. He needed to pretend that he would not have to witness his loved ones turning to dust soon. He needed to be oblivious to the fact that he would follow in their dusty footprints soon enough.

With a shaky exhale he stepped out of his bedroom, only stopping for a short moment to stare at the wall covered in sticky notes. A daily dose of Papyrus’ encouragement was needed.

Today’s gonna be just great.  
That was what his grin was saying.

Nobody needed to know the fact that his hands were clenched tightly to shaking fists inside his windbreaker’s pockets.

…  
..  
.

He planned to just rush out the house to spend some time with the wildlife of Snowdin Forest but long legs strut out of the kitchen and a gloved hand took a gentle hold of his hood. He was glad is wasn’t his arm or something. His second favorite skeleton was always aware of his aversion to touch.

“GOOD MORNING TO YOU TOO, DEAREST LITTLE BROTHER. THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS MADE YOUR FAVORITE FOOD FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY! IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF YOU MISSED BREAKFAST! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!”

A drop of sweat ran down his skull as Jack was forced in his designated seating place at the dining table. So much for going out on a run. But he couldn’t stay mad at Papyrus. He didn’t realize it, but his eyelights had softened as he flashed a true smile at the bundle of sunshine. The tallest skeletons caring and bright attitude could make even the grumpiest of monsters melt into a puddle of goo.

No matter how old the tall bag of bones grew, he would still remain passionate about the things he loved. Good ol’ Papy.

“Of course, Papy man. Nothing could ever beat your, uh… cold spaghetti. And you know how much I love frozen food.” Deep down, the cook in him cried at the ruined meal. He missed cooking, but Papyrus wouldn’t even let him near the stove.

“NYEH HEH HEH HEH! THAT I DO! NOW WHERE IS OUR BELOVED LAZYBONES?”

Jack noticed the light orange dusting his brother’s cheekbones. Paps loved compliments, but he always tried to change the topic while looking away shyly. Cute.

He loved flustering others. It brought warmth to his nonexistent heart.

Jack continued to gaze directly at his brother. His eyelights trailing after the tall skeletons movements without even blinking, admiring the ray of sunshine in his life.  
Papyrus was like a balm to his frayed emotions. Papyrus was soothing. Papyrus was safe.

“Didn’t see him on my way down. He must’ve been- “

“FINISH THAT SENTENCE AND I WILL END YOU, BABY BROTHER!”

“Bone tired?”

“NYOH HOOOOH!!! MY DAY BARELY STARTED AND IT’S ALREADY RUINED!! SANS!!! YOU LAZYBONES, YOU CORRUPTED OUR LITTLE BROTHER!”

Turning towards the entrance of the kitchen, he spotted a chubby skeleton leaning lazily against the wall. Handsome as always.

* and good morning to you too, paps. it ain’t my fault that my charming personality and hilarious puns made jack follow in my footprints and pick up the family tradition after a _century_.

“NO. JUST NO, SANS. PUNS ARE NOT A FAMILY TRADITION!!”

“Sans!”

Jack jumped up and hug-tackle his secret crush to the floor, making sure to keep his strength in check. He didn’t want to dust Sans by mistake. And if he managed to take a sniff of his scent or two… well, nobody but him needed to know that.

* oof! you’re always _jumping my bones_ there, baby bro. _tibia_ honest, I blame you, paps.

“SANS, STOP YOUR TOMFOOLERY THIS INSTANT!”

Jack could only giggle to hide the irony. He wondered how Sans would react if he knew how his little brother really wanted to jump his bones.

Soon enough, the daily breakfast routine proceeded as usual, with Papyrus being the only one to have dinosaur oatmeal while the other two ate the spaghetti that was concerningly gooey this time. Sans was terrorizing Papyrus with his puns like usual and the house was filled with desperate screeches to stop the punning.

Jack was astounded at the normality of their breakfast. Sans was like a puppeteer. Guiding everyone into acting out their roles smoothly without any stutters.

Too bad Jack wasn’t fooled.  
He couldn’t be fooled.  
How even?

If only he did not know of Undertale. Or better yet, if only he had not been reincarnated into a fucking video game where everything could be erased by a press of a single button. They were all a pile of code. His life has been a lie this whole ti-

* jack?

The worry in his brother’s voice snapped him out of dangerous spirals. As his mind focused back to the here and now, he noticed Papyrus had long vanished. Probably left for his daily ‘puzzle inspections’ or training. Jack had always wondered why the tall skeleton even bothered with training in the first place. He already held the position of master strategist within the military.

The metal of his spork digging into his hand made him notice how tight he was holding it. He slowly released his grip and hid his shaking hands underneath the table, away from Sans’ keen sight.

Alright, Jacky-boy. Take a soundless breath in… aaand out. In… and out.

“Yeah, man?”

He might not be an actor of Sans’ level but he still had an unbreakable poker face (skull?).

* hm.

The two skeletons stared at each other, which Sans’ brow bone creeping ever so steadily upwards.

* you’re gonna be late for school, bud.

Jack turned to confirm the time and let out a groan of despair.  
He had too many things planned for today. For example: meeting up with his right-hand woman to discuss scouting strategies to look out for any oddities. Like a human stepping into his territory.  
He didn’t have time for school, man.

“Could I ta- “

Usually, his eldest brother wouldn’t have batted an eye socket at his request to skip, but this time around he was denied even before he could finish his sentence.

The chubby skeleton’s eyelights had completely faded out as the air grew colder. Jack could feel the static of building magic and he might’ve even imagined (or was it really playing?) the melody of Sans’ battle theme. He was cut off sharply by his brother’s deep and commanding voice.

There was even a hint of furiousness which Jack didn’t want to dwell on.

*no. that means I expect you to not play hooky for today. and I assure you, I will know if you do so. this is not up for debate, century.

He flinched at the mention of his monster birth name. At least it wasn’t as bad as his human name.  
Still, he felt a sense of betrayal, but he understood Sans probably used it to be serious.  
So, he ignored the feeling of betrayal.

Jack swallowed down the intense fear as he remembered the resets. He tried to hide the worst of the trembling of his arms by gripping onto his femurs, hoping it would ground his body from making any rattling noises.

He knew Sans was under a lot of stress, so he did not backtalk nor did he hold a grudge at the rough treatment. He merely stared at the table, not courageous enough to look at his older brother in fear of him taking it as an act of rebellion against him.

“R-right… Yeah. I won’t. Of c-course I’ll listen to you, ma-… uh, b-big brother.”

The silence that followed his stuttering words was not helping his growing anxiety.

More so after having heard such a deep voice laced with killer authority from Sans.

It was… quite out of character of him. Was the chubby skele already at his breaking point? Was that the reason why Jack was able to find out about his change of behavior and personality as soon as his eye sockets landed on the ketchup lover?

He flinched when he heard a sigh coming from the direction of Sans.

That was very much unintentional. The fear of not having any memory about the resets paired with the fear of imminent death to his loved ones was growing to be too much for him to handle. Add the out of character-ness of Sans? Today was not great.

He seriously hoped his instinct-driven actions did not make his brother feel guilty.

Was he even capable of feeling guilt in his current mood? Yeah, no. Let’s not think about that. Sans would never intentionally hurt either him or Papyrus.

After a couple of minutes of nothing happening, Jack finally grew a pair of imaginary balls to take a peek at his brother… who had disappeared.  
Probably took a shortcut.

His tension released with a sigh of relief and his skull thunked against the table. His bones felt like pudding.  
That… was absolutely terrifying.  
0/10 would not repeat again.

The silver lining was that he wouldn’t remember if the kid decided to reset. Or reload. Or if he died. Whichever came first.

After taking a few extra moments to calm down, he tried to stand up. Keyword: tried. His legs shook violently and he was sure if he hadn’t been holding onto the table he would’ve fallen to the ground.

“Seriously?”

He whispered to himself, lavender sweat beads running down his skull. A few seconds later and he was already out of the kitchen, not at all minding that he had not cleaned his plate.

It would be suspicious if he acted any different from usual, so with that thought in mind he forced his grin back into place and decided that a detour was required.

Time to find Chara.

If anyone could help bringing up his mood, other than Papy, it was definitely his bestie, Chara man!

…  
..  
.

The moment Jack left their home, a certain ketchup loving skeleton reappeared from a hidden corner in the kitchen. His expression was pained as he clutched his phalanges tightly. He didn’t bother to hide the grimace on his face when he recalled how terrified his brother really was when he was not even able to stand up without holding the table for support.

He felt guilty and regretted having lost his temper with his youngest sibling. Jack didn’t deserve that. It was unfair of him to lash out due to nerves. Sans had, much to his despair, threatened his baby brother. Just because he was scared of Jack not being at school and being evacuated on time. He didn’t want to lose his precious youngest brother to that demon again.

As he closed his eye sockets, while memories of Jack turning to dust when the small skeleton accidentally ran into the demon when he skipped school flashed through his mind, he assured himself that after the next reset he would make it up to Jack.

It was the least he could do after having spooked his babybones that much.

Even though Jack won’t remember anything after a reset.


End file.
